There's a strange cultural norm that nobody is talking about. I'm not really sure what to call it. It has something to do with our consumerist mindset. Something that keeps our gaze low and our self-worth even lower.
We see one another as transactional. And if we have nothing clearly valuable to offer then our worth is void.
Here's what I mean:
Influencers are able to do their job because they believe they have something valuable to offer. Either something truly different and unique to say OR, they have enough wealth to show off a lifestyle others want to model.
Or perhaps, their wealth is in their body. So they can show people health and how to achieve that ever-young appearance.
The point is: influencers have conjured up value that they now offer for a premium.
But, even you and I do this to one another. Literally all day we do this.
Our careers are built on this. We have a unique skill set that we can offer and others can pay to benefit from.
We walk around the grocery store and look for people that have a value we can take. Maybe it's the cashier because they can offer us the magical ticket to leave with our goods. Or maybe it's the person stocking a shelf because they have answers to our questions.
We notice people in Starbucks or walking on the street for no other reason than they seem to be people of value or import. Truly.
Think about it.
Why are beggars on the street ignored? Two reasons:
- They want something from you that you don't think you can give (extra cash).
- They have nothing of value to offer back, so why waste your time?
I don't mean to sound cynical. That's not the point here.
But there is a decent amount of humanity built around a natural instinct to direct our attention and effort toward people that offer value.
And, in our consumerist culture that's taken to another extreme. But I'm going somewhere with this. So, let me get to it.
The New Testament is filled with remarkable encounters that defy this way of operating.
Jesus was constantly interacting with people who could provide zero value to Him. And... while they *thought* He could provide some value, He never gave them what they thought they needed.
Think about the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). Jesus, a Rabbi, would never have interacted with her in their culture. Not even to ask for water. And although Jesus did ask for water... it was clearly shocking to her. As He intended. He then does something remarkable: He offered her water. A water that would keep her from ever being thirsty again.
Jesus did two extremely important things here:
- He saw her. Really saw her.
- He offered her something that did not come from HIs physical resources. It came from a source that does not go dry. A source that cannot be overdrawn.
What a fascinating interaction. God in the flesh, the very Creator of our universe, did not offer this woman riches or a perfect husband or even actual food and water. He offered her an unseen reality.
Even more interesting is the way we see the Apostles mimic this same practice after Jesus ascended.
In Acts 3, Peter and John are walking by a lame man. A man that sat at this same spot by the temple every single day in hopes of begging for money. And I can imagine that every day, the same people walked by and ignored him.
Ignored this man who was asking for money they did not have. A man who could not even be hired to do a job in return.
Ignored the same way I ignore homeless people all the time.
But this time, Peter and John don't walk past him. Scripture says they "directed to their gaze to him" (ESV). Or in the NLT it says "Peter looked straight at him." And then, these man of little means did not give him money.
Instead, Peter says: "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk."
They saw this man. And then they offered him an unseen, intangible resource that came from the Heavenly Father.
We have to get over the idea that we must conjure up value in order to do God's work.
We really believe this. At a core level, we believe that if we do not have a great idea, a storehouse of funds, or a meal to serve that we cannot do God's work.
Of course, there can be obedience in sharing all of those resources.
In fact, Jesus talks about money and physical resource a *lot*. So... don't hear me wrong.
But at our core, we are not the provider or originator of anything valuable. Not really.
Our good ideas... the ones that really take us places... those are always God's ideas. Our bank accounts and our full pantries are from God, too.
Our skills and our talents, they are handed to us by God.
It's all from Him and to Him and through Him and for Him.
I've written about this before, but the truth is: we are people of infinity resource.
All that's required of us is to see people that others do not see. And then to offer up a resource that literally costs us nothing.
A resource that was freely given to us and that we have infinite capacity to freely give.
We don't have to conjure value. We don't need to be valuable in the eyes of a blind culture. We aren't widgets to be consumed. And likewise, we cannot gloss over people because they have no clear value to offer in return. We cannot be people that consume one another.
Life was never designed to be a series of transactions.
Instead, we must see those God loves and then offer them the greatest resource of all.
That's all Jesus requires of us.
What a good Father He is that He has given us everything we need. That we don't have to bring anything to the table. That He provides everything to accomplish His tasks.
So the question becomes: what does this mean for your work? What does your entrepreneurial life look like in the face of this truth?
Do you need to keep striving for credibility of self?
Or can you let that go and just make Jesus famous?
Do you have to serve only those that can provide you with value in return?
Or is there a double bottom line that lets your revenue engine love on the unseen and unwanted?
And what does it mean to stop seeing people with a consumerist lens? How do we build revenue engines while also operating on God's economy?
I'll have to go ask myself these same questions. They aren't easy to answer. But also, they kind of are.